A.J. Brown: Mike Vrabel being tough on me pushed me to become the player I am

New Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown couldn’t be happier to reunite with head coach Mike Vrabel.

Brown said in an interview with Maria Taylor that it wasn’t always easy to play for Vrabel when the two were in Tennessee together during Brown’s first three NFL seasons. But Brown came to appreciate the reasons that Vrabel is such a tough coach.

“When I first got to Tennessee he was extremely tough on me, and I didn’t really understand what he was trying to do,” Brown said. “Obviously he was trying to push me to become the player I am today, but he was just so tough. I remember a conversation, I was talking to him, like, ‘You don’t have to humble me. I came from humble beginnings.’ I just never understood, he stayed on me all the time.”

Brown said that as he spent more time with Vrabel, he began to learn that Vrabel was hard on him because Vrabel genuinely wanted to get the best out of him.

“He was holding me accountable, and we grew close over the years,” Brown said.

Asked what Vrabel said to him yesterday when the trade became official, Brown said it was something he heard from Vrabel plenty of times in Tennessee.

“Get open and catch the ball,” Brown said. “That’s what he always says.”